SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A petition advocating for a referendum to be placed on California’s ballot in November 2022 to allow voters to decide whether to overturn the state’s flavored tobacco sales ban was successful.
The California Coalition for Fairness, the committee pursuing the referendum, needed 623,212 voters to sign. It received more than 1 million.
The initiative was marked as a qualifying statewide ballot measure on the California Secretary of State’s website. This means the ban, originally scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2021, will be postponed until the Nov. 3, 2022, general election.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill, which tobacco manufacturers challenged in a lawsuit, in August. Opponents, including convenience stores and their advocates, said banning the sale of flavored tobacco would devastate small retailers.
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